Con Air Director Simon West To Helm The Expendables 2

Director Simon West may not have the greatest track record in the world, but he did make one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies ever: Con Air. Stacked with an awesome ensemble cast, the movie is absolutely ridiculous but it's also made of pure energy and fun. Whenever I turn on the TV and Con Air is playing, I can't help but sit my ass on the sofa for two hours and marvel at it. Because of that, I'm quite excited by this news.

Deadline is reporting that Simon West has officially been tapped to direct The Expendables 2. While star Sylvester Stallone wrote and directed the first one, it was reported back in March that a hunt was on for a new director and that David Agosto and Ken Kaufman had been hired to take care of the script. The filmmaker released the remake of The Mechanic, which featured Expendables star Jason Statham, earlier this year and also reunited with Con Air star Nicolas Cage for Medallion, which is currently in post-production. It was revealed last month that the plot will center on the gang hunting down those that killed Tool, played by Mickey Rourke.

While I expect that some will disagree, I only see this as good news. It's not easy balancing a film with as many notable names and faces as The Expendables, but Con Air proves that West has the skills to manage it. Would I have trusted something like The Avengers in his hands? Most definitely not, but The Expendables 2 should be good, schlocky fun and we know that West can provide just that.